


Welcome to The Family!

by ca_te



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-02 12:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1056810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ca_te/pseuds/ca_te
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur meets Hunith for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome to The Family!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bohemia86](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=bohemia86).



> Thanks to kittyklaine for the beta! :)

“It’s going to be a disaster, I know it.”

 

“Arthur, would you just calm down?”

 

Merlin shrugs on one of the pullovers his mom knitted for him and glares at Arthur, who is currently trying to carve a hole through the bedroom’s floor.

 

“I fucking can’t.”

 

Arthur’s eyes are wide, his tie hanging askew, and Merlin has to fight the sudden urge to pull at it and kiss Arthur until his lips are raw and all the nervousness has left him. He settles for combing his own hair into something akin to submission instead.

 

“Look, my mom has never eaten anyone. That I know of, at least.”

 

He grins at Arthur’s reflection in the mirror, or well in the small portion of the mirror that is free among the sea of random polaroid shots and trinkets Merlin has piled on it over time. Arthur positively glares at him, azure eyes glinting in the milky morning light.

 

“Do I need to remind you what Will said when we first started going out together?”

 

“That my mom would weep if she knew I was dating an asshole?”

 

“Exactly.”

 

“Well, you were kind of an asshole at the beginning.”

 

Merlin watches as Arthur opens and closes his mouth. He loves it when he manages to render Arthur speechless, even though making him shut up via blowjobs is definitely more fun.  In the end Arthur settles for frowning and fidgeting with his tie. He looks both gorgeous and adorable at the same time and  Merlin is sure Arthur will be the death of him one day.

 

Settling the brush back on the chest of drawers, Merlin turns to face his nerve-wrack of a boyfriend.

 

“Here, let me help you.”

 

Arthur huffs, but lets Merlin fix the tie for him anyway.

 

“I told you to skip the formal dress code for once.”

 

Arthur shrugs and Merlin chuckles.

 

“God, you are so freaking stubborn.”

 

“But you love it.”

 

Merlin pokes him in the chest.

 

“No, I love you.”

 

Arthur’s smile is warm and Merlin hopes he has finally managed to dissipate a bit of the anxiety.

 

“But what if your mom doesn’t love me too?”

 

Merlin throws his hands up in the air.

 

“I give up. Yes, she is going to hate you and kick you out of the house.”

 

Arthur pouts - honest to God - and Merlin can’t help kissing it away, even though it means messing up the tie again and ending up being half an hour late.

 

*

 

“She is going to love you. Trust me on this.”

 

Merlin looks at Arthur straight in the eyes as he squeezes his gloved hand. They are standing on Hunith’s front porch and Merlin can’t feel his toes anymore, but he needs Arthur to relax, to understand that accepting him will come naturally to her once he sees how much he means to Merlin.

 

Arthur shifts his weight from left to right, teeth worrying at his lower lip.

 

“Could you at least give me a good luck kiss?”

 

Merlin sighs, but there’s no heat at all behind it, only a love so big it is a wonder it hasn’t ripped him open yet. Arthur’s lips are slightly chapped because of the cold wind, but they never fail to fit perfectly against Merlin’s. Born and designed to be together. The tip of Arthur’s tongue has just brushed past his lips, when the door swings open.

 

“You could keep it PG at least for Christmas, Merl.”

 

Will is grinning, that boyish smile that doesn’t disappear no matter how many years go by. Merlin steps away from Arthur and lets his best friend engulf him in a hug. There was a time when Arthur was insanely jealous of Will, but over time - thanks to yells and lots of sex and whispered “you’re the only one for me, you idiot” - that has faded away and has morphed in some kind of warped sense of respect that involves manly punches on the shoulders whenever they meet.

 

Merlin catches a glimpse of his mom walking towards the door and disentangles himself to reach her. She smells of apple pie and cinnamon and home. She always will, even though Arthur has become home too, with his grumblings in the morning and his kisses and the way his hands belong on Merlin’s body and around Merlin’s heart.

 

“Hi, mom.”

 

She hugs him close, whispering sweet nonsense about him being too thin and him eating enough in the big city? She keeps asking these questions even many years after Merlin has moved away and he keeps answering her, because he loves her so much there are no words to express it properly.

 

Today, though, there is someone he finally has to introduce her to.

 

Arthur is standing by Will’s side, eyes huge and azure and a bit scared. Merlin shakes his head fondly. Arthur is one of the bravest people he has ever met, and yet he manages to be so nervous about meeting a middle-aged woman. Deep down, though, Merlin is pleased to see that Arthur cares so much - after all Merlin is planning to spend the rest of his life with him, which means Arthur will be (already kind of is) part of the family.

 

“Mom, this is Arthur. Arthur, this is my mom.”

 

He steps aside as Arthur offers his hand, an expectant smile on his face. There’s a moment of stillness, just the snow falling and the soft sound of the old radio in the kitchen. Then Hunith moves with simple grace and drags Arthur down for a hug. Merlin’s cheeks are hurting for how wide he is smiling. Arthur looks at him from over Hunith’s shoulder and there is so much relief in those beautiful eyes of his. Merlin quirks an eyebrow, as if to say “I told you there was nothing to worry about, you idiot” and he trusts that Arthur can read it all. They have become good at understanding each other without the need for words after years of fights and kisses and living together - waking up with Arthur’s arm slung over his waist, hanging up his clothes beside Arthur’s in the closet, looking at Arthur over Chinese take-away and thinking: “I just love him so much”.

 

“Well, I am freezing my ass off out here.”

 

Merlin chuckles as Hunith swats Will on the head. “Language, William.” Merlin is about to follow his mom and his best friend into the house, when Arthur’s hand closes around his wrist, warm and solid. He smiles, small and sweet, and Merlin thinks he might have looked just like that as a child, on those rare occasions when his father praised him.

 

“How am I doing?”

 

Merlin shakes his head, his free hand coming up to cup Arthur’s freshly shaved cheek.

 

“You are perfect and mom loves you already.”

 

*

 

Christmas lunch has always been a big deal at Merlin’s house - it seems to inevitably end with him feeling so full he risked to explode - and this time is no different. Hunith has cooked all of Merlin’s favorites, and some of Arthur’s too. She had called a few days back, demanding a list of all the dishes Arthur liked the most. Merlin had laughed and then complied.

Looking at Arthur help himself to some more roast potatoes with cranberry sauce, Merlin can’t help noticing the relaxed curved of his shoulders and the fact that the smile he is directing at Hunith is his real smile, the one he displays to the few selected people who manage to get past his carefully built barriers.

 

He is still lost in the bright curve of Arthur’s smile, when Will elbows him in the side.

 

“What?”

 

“Your mom adores him.”

 

There’s no trace of resentment in Will’s eyes, he is grinning around a mouthful of turkey. The thought that both his best friend and his mom have accepted Arthur’s presence in his life makes him giddy. He would have loved Arthur even without their blessing, he would lay his heart on the line every second of his life for the only man he has ever loved like this, but having it makes everything better.

 

“Yeah, she kind of does.”

 

Will nods and swallows before taking a huge gulp of red wine.

 

“He is a good lad.”

 

Merlin snorts.

 

“Now you sound like Gaius.”

 

The old man had been a through-and-through fan of Arthur since the first time they met. Arthur had come to pick Merlin up at the antique bookshop and Gaius had quirked a white eyebrow and flashed Merlin an amused smile. “Two sides of the same coin, I see”, he had said before patting Merlin on the back and sending him off even though there were fifteen minutes left before the end of his shift. The old man liked being cryptic and Merlin didn’t understand what he had meant at first. As weeks and months passed, though, he started to get it. It was in the way he and Arthur managed to communicate without words, in the way their bodies fitted together, in the sense of completeness that filled Merlin from head to toe when Arthur was close.

 

“Hey, watch it.”

 

Will doesn’t look threatening in the least with his mouth stuffed with garlic bread.

 

*

 

Merlin has just gotten out of the bathroom when Arthur corners him, eyes glowing and a wicked smile on his lips.

 

“She loves me.”

 

“I told you she would, you big idiot.”

 

Arthur doesn’t reply, he simply kisses him and Merlin sinks into it, into the firm caress of Arthur’s tongue, into the warmth of Arthur’s hand holding him close. When they break apart, Arthur grins.

 

“Do you think your mom would love me less if I were to take advantage of you in your childhood bedroom?”

 

Merlin laughs, heat pooling at the bottom of his stomach - he is sure he’ll never stop wanting this man.

 

“Oh, believe me, I would be the one who would love you less if you don’t.”

 

*

 

Hunith monopolizes Arthur all through the afternoon, showing him old pictures of Merlin, talking about her youth and her current passion for gardening. Arthur sits through it all, eyes kind and intent, and the more Merlin looks at him, from where he is playing cards with Will, the more he falls in love. It should be impossible to love Arthur more than he already does, but his heart is gives a different advice, as do the flock of butterflies that seems to have taken up residence in his stomach.

 

They are still swooping around when dinner time comes and they sit together on the couch, watching Edward Scissorhands and sipping mulled wine. Arthur’s arm is slung around his shoulders. Merlin’s mind wanders back to the time when Arthur had been afraid to be seen in public with him, had even been afraid to admit he might have feelings for a man. Back then Merlin would have never imagined that one day they could be here, sitting on his mother’s couch, Arthur close and smiling and happy. It truly feels like the biggest gift.

 

*

 

Falling asleep in his childhood bedroom, with Arthur’s naked chest pressed against his back and Arthur’s breath softly caressing his nape, Merlin feels balanced in a way he has never felt. It’s as though two halves of his life have finally been sealed together. That night he dreams of azure eyes and golden hair in a sea of barley, the sky high above his head. They are riding horses towards a castle, Arthur’s red cloak flowing in the breeze.

 

He wakes up smiling, with Arthur trailing kisses down his chest, lower and lower.

 

*

 

Merlin makes his way down to the kitchen following the smell of coffee and freshly made pancakes. His mom smiles at him, just as she did when he was a child, and Merlin knows he is going to miss her once they’re back in London. She has put two mugs and two plates on the kitchen’s table and Merlin’s heart thumps happily with the knowledge that Arthur is now officially part of the family, without question or doubt.

 

Arthur stumbles downstairs as Merlin is just starting his second helping of pancakes. His hair is still damp from the shower and the smile he flashes at Hunith is pure and fresh. It makes Merlin wiggle his bare toes and grin like a loon.

 

“Good morning.”

 

Arthur sits in front of him, completely at ease, as though he had grown up in this very house too. His foot finds Merlin’s ankle under the table, a little nudge and a soft smile.

 

*

 

As they make their way back to London, the road unfurling black and white in front of them, their car smelling of apples because of the two pies Hunith forced Arthur to accept, the world seems to be filled with peace. Merlin hums along with the radio and keeps his hand over Arthur’s on the gearstick.

 

“So your mom kind of loves me, right?”

 

Arthur is looking at the road straight ahead, but Merlin can see the corner of his grin.

 

“Duh. Sometimes I wonder how I can love someone as dumb as you, baby.”

 

Arthur laughs, bright and kind of perfect.

 

“I love you too.”


End file.
